Be honest, who among us has never wished for a swimming pool in the garden? On those few sweltering days of heat each summer, it seems the perfect answer – especially if we’ve just returned from a sun-drenched holiday where activities have centred round the pool.

It’s a great way to keep the kids entertained, adults can take a quick dip to cool down and don’t we all think it would provide the answer to the exercise conundrum – a pool in the garden would be far more attractive than packing your gear for a trip to the gym, after all.

And then as we get more and more convinced, we probably start justifying the idea in our head by telling ourselves it would add an extra price tag to the property when the time comes to sell up and move on.

But would it, ask the doubters…Surely the costs of maintenance outweigh the benefits…don’t you need to treat the water as lovingly as a child…and aren’t they dangerous with children around anyway…aren’t the chemicals expensive…?

Yes, all of those factors are considerations when you think about having your garden dug out to make way for your little luxury.

But covers and a new breed of chemicals mean those issues are not insurmountable, adults have to be vigilant with children no matter what the surroundings and gated fences can always be built around the water, and you would rarely abandon the housework or gardening so taking care of your pool is just another job on that particular household list.

When it comes to selling a property with a pool, of course a certain band of people will be put off so you will be fishing in a smaller pool of potential buyers!

But if they are interested in a home with a pool in the first place, they will be alert to the price and understand that actually the value of the house has been increased by the installation of the swimming pool. You wouldn’t buy a home with a large garden if you hated gardening or weren’t prepared to hire a gardner…

Ultimately, therefore, the value of your house has been boosted by having a pool; you asked considerably more than your neighbours selling a house without the extra feature and someone is going to want to buy it so it can always be argued that pools add value to a house price and your initial investment was a wise one.

A further consideration is if others in your area also have a pool, potential buyers will consider your home normally priced anyway and will not consider the asking price too high relative to the neighborhood.

Sure, pools cost a lot of money up front and need maintaining but take that plunge, let criticisms wash over you and see the extra profit roll in later.

1 Comment

Pools are quite popular here in Southern California. Even so, I probably wouldn’t buy a property with one because of all the maintenance involved. A good compromise is to get a home in a development with a central pool. That way, you have access to it but don’t have to worry about maintaining it.